A well deserved retirement for classy miler Palace Pier

PALACE Pier has been retired to stud after last week’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day. He won nine of his 11 starts, suffering his only defeats in the QEII this year and last.

He was at the top of the milers’ tree for the best part of two seasons but the year-younger Baaeed proved his superior on Saturday.

That pair gave us one of the duels we wanted at Ascot, which wasn’t the case in the Long Distance Cup, where Stradivarius was never able to get in a blow against Trueshan.

It was the same in the Champion Stakes, which didn’t live up to its name. Adayar and Mishriff finished out of the first three, soundly beaten by horses rated ten pounds lower.

Sealiway, the 12/1 French-trained winner had form figures this year of 2825, which do not suggest he is a “champion” in the normal sense of the word even though they include second place in the French Derby and fifth in the Arc.

A relative unknown to take out of Champions Day was Minzaal, last year’s Gimcrack winner. He was third in the Sprint, having only his fifth race, and this Shadwell (ex-Sheikh Hamdan) horse is sure to do well next season. In the same race Art Power was a highly creditable fourth drawn 20, on a day that favoured low numbers on the straight course.

The going could vary wildly from course to course at the weekend, with soft or heavy being reported yesterday set to dry out.

At Doncaster Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg is the evens favourite for the Vertem Futurity Stakes and also heads the market for the 2022 Derby. Both of his victories have come on good ground. The stable has had a few winners this week – albeit from a lot of runners – so their run of poor form this autumn may be on the wane. If evens doesn’t appeal, and none of the eight declared are withdrawn, Sissoko at 12/1 is suggested as the each way alternative.

Five of the eight races at Newbury are for two-year-olds and chances are some long shots will turn up in the testing conditions.

Sixty miles away at Cheltenham, the going may be good, possibly verging on the fast side given how well it drains. The late Trevor Hemmings’ Cloth Cap would be a popular winner of the three mile chase at 2.20 and dual course and distance scorer Storm Control runs for the in-form Kerry Lee. However, bearing in mind the Irish dominance at the Festival, specially in handicaps, they should be feared. Go Another One has won 13 races and is still only nine years old.